Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Harry Potter this is has been made by the great mind of J.K. Rowling
Note from the Author: You may be aware that there's hardly any magic in the beginning of this Fanfic and that's all deliberate, more magic comes when Hermione returns to Hogwarts, it's kind of a metaphor of love, love = magic, yeah. It just goes to show that Hermione when she had no magic had no luck in love and felt hopeless in it but when finding the two and being accepted at Hogwarts she found it not in just one person but two.
Review = Love ;)
so enjoy!
Chapter Two
'Truth or Dare?'
The atmosphere was still tepid and dry while the sky grew darker more slowly than usual, in the summer's day. Hermione couldn't help but still feel little on edge about the seemingly dark sky, as that meant closer to the actual slumber part of the sleepover and was unsure how she acted when she slept; slightly subconscious on whether she snores noisily or whether she mumbles her deepest, darkest secrets. Not that she had any, at that moment.
Shadows of blurring trees zoomed past by the car making Hermione feel she was travelling through forwards in time, quickening her dread.
"Hermione, Hermione!" Her dad was unbuckling her seatbelt, looking at her oddly as she drooled uncaring into her clamped hands while heavily in deep sleep.
Hair more bushy than before, she awoken with a slight dreamy state, panicking for a moment as she was wildly plucking her memories attempting to remind herself about her surroundings.
"Dad!" She felt the facts slam her violently on the face, and jumped out of the car hoisting her belongings beside her dad who looked weather-beaten from the long car journey.
The two tiresome people walked towards the pearly white mansion, in which Hermione noted was quite small in comparison to others she had seen in the past, but still felt a stab of jealously in which was shaken off in almost minutes and was overcome by her fear when all the girls already arrived, were giggling horrendously in one of the large arched windows.
The door was glimmering black from the last specks of sunlight, the door handle glistening bright gold, quite a thing you want to avoid touching to not feel the stab of guilt of smearing it.
Hermione's dad reluctantly chimed the doorbell, echoing happily throughout the vast house.
He turned seeming unsurprised by his daughter's transfixed and worrisome facial expression.
He just said, "You'll be fine, dear" gave a gentle kiss on the cheek and turned smoothly to be greeted by a women caked with make-up giving a throwaway smile. Shaking hands only through politeness to Hermione's dad and allowed Hermione in with no help with handing the heap of luggage inside.
Lavender's mother grimaced and grimly mentioned that the other girls were in the living room, while trotting towards the kitchen to continue watching what sounded like the the wizard parody of the muggle drama Desperate Housewives which was known in this version as Desperate Witches.
The rooms were glistening with gold and the walls plastered with white paint.
The giggling girls' heads bobbing in excitement were in a tight circle on the carpet with a spinning bottle as a centre piece.
Hesitating at the door frame, Hermione coughed to gain their attention that she arrived within the house.
Their heads spun at the double.
"Just in time, Granger." Lavender Brown beamed in a somewhat menacing way, which might of just been the case of the lighting in the snug living room.
After a second of seating next to Parvati Patil and a girl whom Lavender greeted as Lacy, her year younger cousin.
The pea green glass bottle spun around too many times to count with intervals of selfish laughter and typical asks on truths and common but nasty dares.
Time was ticking forcefully slow, the hands on Hermione's wristwatch looked as if it wasn't moving at all.
It was, at anxiety, Hermione Granger's turn at being questioned whether she wanted a risky dare or a terrifying truth.
Feeling slightly sentimental, she chose truth, blindly knowing what was in for her.
"Okay then!" Lacy piped up. All giggled and eyed Hermione as if this moment of truth would be an open window to stalk her with endless taunts and threats of her secrets.
Gulping and slightly fretting she nodded unsure.
"Who, Miss Granger" saying miss more harshly then needed. "do you have a little crush on?" More laughter bounced around the room as if someone let loose a pack of hyenas. Growing brick red by the millisecond she felt this was the only thing she knew hardly about; Love.
The room was anticipating her answer maddeningly.
Hermione's ears tinkled red and thudding hard enough for her to hear. Which only reminded her of Ron Weasley.
Ronald, she thought and her heart wrestled to flip, but almost spun a full 360 when a girl she never met in her life suddenly suggested.
"Harry Potter, maybe?" she saw the result she needed flickering on hermione's patchy face.
"i-i?" What was she going to say? Why would you tell the people you don't particularly like who you have a crush on? Surely for Hermione she wouldn't even tell the closest of friends, needless to say she hadn't told her closest friends; Ron and Harry. She wondered why she felt so puzzled, ignoring the side of her mind that made any sense to answer that.
"It's true then." Some other girl's voice came squeaking from the door frame that hadn't been greeted yet. Everyone's heads spun round in surprisement, whereas Lavender shook in rage.
"..HERE?" Raging towards the newly encountered girl she shook her violently and bore into her eyes.
"I wanted to check out the new gossip around here." She smiled venomously and shot a good greedy eye at Hermione and then back at her predator. The way she said 'check' almost sounded as if she was covering something.
Then Hermione saw, everyone saw, who exactly invaded their private sleepover.
Pansy Parkinson from Slytherin.
It was a deafening silence echoing the room. The building felt twice it's usual size and much more alien than previously.
Lavender's mother came wandering in with a warm sweet smile that seemed foreign to Hermione who only met her with a cold hearted grin, it then hit her that, after Lavender's mother smiled all around missing out herself, that she was targeted as an abominate.
"Any trouble, deary?" she jostled through the packed hallway mounted with luggages and came beside the trespasser.
"yes, mum" Lavender hissed in Pansy's mousy face. "what is this-this person doing here?"
Giving a gracious smile she explained back "Why, I thought this polite young lady was invited." She emphasized polite towards Lavender whom obviously had some lack of it.
Hermione was abashed by this sudden news but at the same moment relieved to squirm out of telling her secrets to all the girls, in which she hadn't even admitted to herself.
Lacy strode beside Lavender like a storm sweeping up houses and trees. Broadening her shoulders ready to defend her cousin just through her presence being there.
"No! I did not invite her, she must go. NOW." the words seemed final but her mother just kept on going.
"My, my young lady, watch your tone." swaying her finger viciously in the air. "Pansy, has been telling me how long of a journey it took her to get here, it would be too late and dangerous now to get a road trip home even with magic!" The room seemed as if it was buzzing with the statement that no one would like to accept to take in.
"I do not care if she gets hurt on the way, she must leave at once!" Reddening, the mother's daughter knew no other comebacks and almost felt in need to go barging up the creaking stairs and slam her darn door in her mother's snooty face. It would of happened if it weren't the fact she needed to keep her dignity straight in front of her judgemental friends.
"Lavender Brown, you need to learn some respect, manners and to stop talking in such a rash tone! Now allow this girl to join your silly muggle party or it's no more parties at all, got it?" No one looked at Lavender nor her mother in the eye it seemed too personal of a moment to do such a thing.
Without anyone truly knowing but through pure initiative, Lavender agreed to her mother's requests.
Pansy, imperious and high on her horse, sat down next to Lavender's empty spot and smiled pungently towards everyone's annoyed faces. The room after the argument seemed more cold in temperature and everyone seemed less cheerful. Lavender and lacy sat down recklessly with ashen, hard faces.
"Right then, girls what's say we continue Hermione's turn?" No one really wanted to obey the bothersome Slytherin girl but needless they still craved the answer.
Sickened by the reminder, it felt that within every corner of the room there were pairs of beady eyes greedily wanting to torture the answer out of Hermione through stares alone.
"M-must I answer? I'm sure the other girls' lives are much more amusing than my own." She felt hopeful but still felt that it was no use.
Her mind sizzling with two names she knew deep down has passionate feelings towards but wasn't up for saying so herself let alone out loud, why? Well it almost felt forbidden, the way she knew them for so long.
Clocks ticking, eyes straining and pestering her on. She felt the answer almost bulging out of her throat.
"I- I like..."
"Girls!" A man's voice hollowed throughout the household and almost abruptly entered the room louder than everywhere else.
The man was a masculine guy with a broad bushy moustache.
"Time for bed, all of you." He briskly said and stormed off. Everyone got to their feet in disappointment except for Hermione who almost flew to the hallway. No one wanted to argue against Lavender's patronising father so settled without pestering poor Hermione throughout the whole of the night. Leaving her in solitude, just the way she needed it.
It was a long rectangular bedroom, they all had to sleep in, making it such a surprise that Lavender Brown has it all to herself on other nights.
No cobwebs in sight, it seemed that the entire room was just dusted and varnished just moments ago. The room had violet purple paint splattered evenly on it's walls, cream furniture with golden frames. Even the door frame was sprinkled to a blinding gold varnish.
Lavender bounced onto her puffy four poster bed looking warm and cuddly already without it's covers. In contrast, the other tiresome girls poured out their sleeping bags on the fluffy carpet and started to hassle out their clothes for the night.
While the room was occupied with busybodies, Hermione looked around almost as if searching for another neglected friend who might be whimpering in the corner the same way she felt inside. She found no such thing but clearly the opposite, everyone else engaging in conversation or helping one and another with their sleeping bags, all except Hermione, of course.
She slumped into the nearest bathroom and once again was bedazzled from the glistening white tiled walls and the spotlights shaping a heart coming from above the mirror.
Brushing her teeth drowsily, all to ignore the outside of the room and it's inhabitants. She came to an abrupt pause with terrifying thoughts in her mind. No, it's just the light, I did not just see something moving behind me in the shower. She tried to convince herself but it just made her paranoia much more convincing.
Gulping ever so slightly almost spewing the remainder of the toothpaste, Hermione Jean Granger, slowly circled round to face the forbidding shower that always seem to hide a dangerous mass murderer in films.
Hermione didn't think herself as the bravest of all, nor the most cowardice but to be in Gryffindor you must be brave enough to conquer that nagging of instincts in the back of your own mind, on contrary, She certainly felt that was her main weak spot.
The moon was shining behind the shower curtains making a distorted silhouette. Hermione was shaking violently inches from grabbing the glossy material that may soon be splattered with her own ruby red blood.
Huff, huff
That wasn't her own drastic breathing, no, she was keeping in her breath to jump into a surprise attack if it were to be such a murderer or even if it were to be a boggart!
"S-stop...stay...away." It was a girl's voice, scared and frightened.
Hermione threw open the remainder of the curtains and noticed a small girl sprawled up in a little ball, laying inside the bathtub.
Momentarily puzzled she regained her senses and reached out a hand to aid the girl but the girl just attempted to shake her head with much effort without banging it to the side of the hard tub.
"W-what's your name?" Hermione asked the girl with an unsurprising dry throat.
"Vivian, Vivian Spinnell."
"And you are invited to this party I presume? I didn't see you downstairs with the others.."
"ye-s I am invited I was just scared if they asked me to do a serious dare, so I made up an excuse to go to the bathroom and well I never came back down."
"Well! You could of coughed or something, you frightened the daylights out of me! And Merlin's beard! You're drenched, what have you been doing?" She stepped back to evaluate the scene, tipping her head to the side and into a thoughtful posture.
"I-well, someone came in with cropped black hair and a mousy face, she err turned the tap on while I was asleep which obviously woke me up with a bit of a start she grinned at me and ran off." She whimpered slightly while attempting to get up. She must have been there for quite some time.
"Vivian" Hermione approached towards her and pulled her gently up and out of the tub, she started to dry her as much as she could from the nearest towel. "Don't worry, your not the only outsider in this here party, I am" grinning slightly sadly she started to embrace the girl that looked the same age as herself and patted her on the shoulder to tell her to get up on her feet.
The clocks were drawling to tick 12, the little girl named Vivian and the intellectual Hermione were still awake staring at the spiky ceiling.
Hermione at that moment remembered that her mother packed books in her bag and she, herself packed her wand in case of emergency. She included that being bored in an annoying stranger's home can be counted as an emergency.
"Vee" Hermione whispered the nickname; Vivian allowed her to say.
"Yes?" she questioned back in a small squeaky tone.
"Have you got your wand with you?" Then she had a sudden theory. What if Vivian wasn't a Witch?
Vee started to mount through her luggage quietly as possible and sprung out a long crooked stick.
"Yes" she hissed back and Hermione pulled out a sigh which Vee thought as relief to her having her wand.
"Well, I got some 'lovely-dovely' romance novels if you want to read?" She then thought that Vee being a witch might not of heard of any of the muggle titles.
"okay!" and she tugged onto one of the five books which were rested on Hermione's lap. Her theory being right, Vivian looked at the book questionably.
"I never heard of this title" she pointed the book at Hermione.
"That's because they're muggle books, give them a try" She gently shoved the book back.
"interesting..." Vivian flipped through the book's thin pages, with her nose so close it was a wonder how it didn't get sliced off.
Hermione gave Pride and Prejudice a try, sceptical at first especially looking at it's cover she cross-eyed read through the pages. By the near end she was hooked and it only took her two hours.
Eyes swelled red and blurry she tossed the novel with a whisper "Nox" to her wand and placed that beside her toes and slumped into a good position for sleep.
That night she had a dream that she was Elizabeth Bennet, the main character who Mr. Darcy likes. Darcy was portrayed by Harry and Colonel Fitzwilliam as Ron. She didn't know why Ron was that character but she presumed it was because they had a slight thing in the book and was really close at one point.
Her dream continued with her swimming with confusing thoughts on who she'd liked better and whom in the end she would marry. The whole dream was confusing for her, she was so confused on who she liked best she had a slight tightening in her guts with the feeling she could never get out of the horrid dream at all.